Heart, Don’t Fail Me Now

Failure is a fact of life; it’s inevitable. Every single person, including you, will, at some point, not succeed. Many of these failures will be minor – You will be unable to parallel park or pass an exam. You will have the doughnut rather than the apple. You will not complete the final lap of your run – but they will also be correctable. You will have opportunities to rectify the shortcomings. However, that’s not true of all failures; not all can be fixed. Not all just go away. Heart failure is one of them.

Heart failure affects five million people in the United States, killing 287,000 each year. It is defined as the inability of the heart to properly pump blood. Cells are deprived of the oxygen and nutrients they need, and everyday activities become increasingly more difficult. Most people who develop heart failure have had a previous cardiovascular problem. They’ve experienced a heart attack, been diagnosed with coronary artery disease, have an abnormal heart rhythm or have inflammation. As a result, the primary risk factors linked to heart failure mirror those associated with heart disease. High blood pressure and a high BMI, as well as smoking, drinking, inactivity and a poor diet, contribute to the likelihood of heart failure. Thus, prevention is going to feel a lot like you’re preventing a heart attack (which in a sense you are). It’s going to start early in life (like right now), and it’s going to start early in the day.

The recent conclusion of a 19-year study has proven that regularly consuming whole-grain cereals can lower the risk of heart failure. When the health and habits of nearly 21,000 doctors were examined, it was found that just one bowl of cereal, daily, lessened the odds, by 29 percent. However, it had to be whole-grain. Refined cereal didn’t help a bit. So, if you want to combat heart failure with breakfast, make sure you pick wisely. Any item that has received the American Heart Association’s whole-grain certification is your safest bet, but what you are basically looking for is four grams of fiber per serving and a minimum of 25 percent whole grain or bran by weight.

This entry was posted
on Tuesday, December 4th, 2007 at 9:02 am and is filed under Sexual Health.
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